It’s no secret that Randi Weingarten opposes co-locating charter schools in buildings that have a district public school. But the president of the American Federation of Teachers sits on the board of University Prep Charter Schools—a charter run by the local teachers union. On Wednesday New York’s Department of Education approved University Prep Charter’s bid for a permanent co-location for its middle school with a district school and another charter school.
The backdrop points to the stunning hypocrisy. Under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York approved dozens of co-locations for the simple reason that this is usually the speediest way to get these charters up and running. The unions understand that too, which is why they fight it.
This year the unions have succeeded in pressuring Mayor Eric Adams to cancel three co-location proposals for Success Academy charter schools by ginning up opposition. Success Academy is one of the city’s best-performing charter networks. Now the unions have brought a lawsuit to void two other Success Academy co-locations that were already approved. Well over a third of the city’s 275 charters are co-located because that is where the unused space is.